Fighting for trans rights in Maryland
Anti-gay forces are hard at work trying to derail a long-delayed bias bill.
RICHARD S. MADALENO
Friday, March 13, 2009
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Quote Owen Smith, spoke about an employer who harassed him during his transition, forcing him to do menial chores, taunting him about not being "man enough" when he struggled with very heavy objects and prolonging a guaranteed raise. Sandy Rawls, the director of Trans-United, spoke about being edged out of a trucking job when she transitioned. Rawls became unable to make ends meet, found herself on the street due to the inaccessibility of homeless shelters for transgender women and was later assaulted and harassed when she was placed in a transitional home with men.
These stories are not unique. The Washington Area Transgender Needs Assessment survey estimates that 42 percent of transgender people in the D.C. Metro Area are unemployed, 31 percent have incomes of less than $10,000 per year and 19 percent do not have their own living space. These statistics mirror statistics from around the country that have found similar alarming rates of discrimination for transgender persons.